


the fire within him

by bitter_red_gay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Canon Universe, Gen, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Team Voltron Family, Vague depictions of violence, as in they refer to each other as their brother, broganes, but still, i probably missed something so feel free to yell at me in the comments if i did, implied foster kid keith, not all of these are in the first chapter tho, unofficially offically adoptive brothers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 05:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16234886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitter_red_gay/pseuds/bitter_red_gay
Summary: The first time the paladins actually watch Keith fight is the first time they realize he is truly more fire than man.





	the fire within him

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because seasons 6 and 7 killed me. Keith felt off in seasons 6 and 7 and I've pinned it down to 2 things: he was an actual asshole and he wasn't as fiery as he normally is. I have very many thoughts about seasons 6 and 7 and will scream forever if I get started. They were good seasons and the animation was fucking beautiful but the writing was.... lackluster.

They’re in the food court of a space mall outside of Galra territory when it happens. People of all different species mull about buying food and gathering with friends. The team is all together, standing amongst rows of structures resembling picnic tables, when a person approaches Keith. The stranger, if not for their ungodly height, could be mistaken for a human. Once they get closer to Keith, they sniff the air. Keith draws back and tilts his head in confusion at the odd action.

The stranger’s face betrays no emotion for a moment, and then their face twists into something awful. Their voice comes out as more of a hiss than an actual voice, but they speak words clear as day. With disgust and hatred clear in their voice, the stranger says, “You. You are Galra."

Keith’s eyebrows shoot up as he recoils and drop again. He pulls himself up to his full height and cracks his neck before glaring up at the stranger. His eyes are dark with malice and his tone bears enough venom to kill. “Yeah, what about it?” 

Pidge, Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Coran don’t know about the explosion that’s coming, but Shiro’s seen that look and heard that tone before. “Keith” he says, trying get his brother’s attention and stop what is, at this point, inevitable. 

Keith shakes his head and chuckles darkly before he says to Shiro, “I wanna know what he’s got to say, Kashi, that’s all.” They both know that’s a lie. 

The others seem to be catching on to what this interaction is heading towards, but no one quite knows how to quench the fire that’s been lit. Panicked looks are shared between team members, not for Keith, but for the person who’s approached him. 

“I hear you’re a paladin of Voltron, yes? How truly ironic it is that a Galra is on a team that is supposed to be liberating all from them. You have no right to be a paladin! All your people know how to do is take and conquer and kill!”

And with that, Keith snaps. He vaults over the table separating them with inhuman ease and practiced grace. He’s on the stranger in less than a second. All Keith sees is red.

 

It takes Allura, Shiro, and Hunk a few minutes to pull Keith off of the stranger. Lance, Pidge, and Coran are running interference and trying to disperse the crowd that is forming around them. Once Keith’s been pulled off of the stranger, he’s still thrashing and trying to get to the person who’d approached him. He’s spitting a litany of curses in English, Japanese, and Korean that Shiro’s mom would have slapped him for.  
Coran runs to see if the stranger is seriously hurt, and, of course, he is. Several bones look broken and he’s bruised and bleeding. Shiro, Hunk, and Allura are still holding an absolutely livid Keith back when Pidge notices it, not the blood soaking through his gloves or the busted lip, but his eyes. Upon closer inspection, his eyes are unmistakably Galra, as are his teeth, which had turned to fangs, and his skin and hair, which bear a more purple hue. 

As Shiro mutters “you’re okay”s and other sweet nothings in English and Japanese, the fire behind Keith’s eyes slowly quells from the all consuming conflagration that it had become to its usual steady burn. 

 

It’s clearly visible when Keith comes back to himself. His first concern isn’t the sharp but familiar pain in his lip or the equally familiar dull ache in his fists. His first concern is what he did to the other person. Coran hadn’t yet gotten the stranger to better medical help, and he locks eyes with Keith.

The poor boy caves in on himself as he begins to shake. He falls to his knees and would’ve crumpled had Shiro not been there to hold him up. Keith buries his face into his brother’s shoulder and murmurs out, “What the fuck did I do, Shiro? What the actual fuck did I do?” 

Shiro doesn’t answer. He instead picks up his brother’s shaking frame and practically sprints out of the space mall and back to the castle ship and trusts the others to take care of the situation.


End file.
